World's Largest Mobile Carrier Unlikely To Carry iPhone 5

Over a couple of months ago, it was speculated that the next-generation iPhone aka iPhone 5 will launch with support for China Mobile, the largest mobile carrier in the world. But now, that appears to be unlikely, in light of a new Sina Tech report that The Next Web has recently pointed out.

According to The Next Web:

Employees at China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile operator, have indicated that the carrier is unlikely to sell Apple’s upcoming iPhone, Sina Tech reports. The publication spoke to a number of workers at the provincial and city level who said they had heard nothing about Apple’s next-generation iPhone being released on China Mobile.

Serving upwards of 650 million mobile subscribers, China Mobile is the only telco in China to not officially carry the iPhone. This is on account of the device’s lack of support for China Mobile’s proprietary TD-SCDMA standard.

As noted by The Next Web, China Mobile and Apple are coordinating with each other to integrate the former’s standard into the latter’s bestselling product.

But according to China Mobile chairman Xi Guohua, the biggest setback thus far is the “lag” in the development of the required chip under Qualcomm.

“So if you want to know when the China Mobile version of Apple’s iPhone will arrive, ask Qualcomm,” says Xi (as translated by The Next Web’s Josh Ong).

The so-called iPhone 5 is expected to debut at Apple’s much-awaited event on Wednesday, Sept. 12.

The new device is sure to support all of the wireless standards supported by its predecessor, the iPhone 4S. But China Mobile’s TD-CDMA technology will no doubt be a more than welcome addition, if only to help the iPhone command a considerable portion of the world’s largest telco’s huge subscriber base.